Wall-closure construction



March 26,1929. /B. c ROCKWELL 1,706,546

WALL CLOSURE CQNS TRUCTION Fil -edQJune 25, 13.327

Patented Mar. 26,

urrEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BYRD o. ROCKWELL, or sr. JOSEPH, mrssounr.

WALL-CLOSURE Application filed'i'fune 2 5,

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in the construction of wall closures, such as doors, screendoors, storm doors,casement windows, andthe like, and to a novel method of manufacturing the same. Heretofore, a common practice has been to fit the frame of the closure member within the wall opening flush with the face thereof. For these reasons, theframe had to be finished accurately in order to fit perfectly within the casing without binding. This required trimming or dressing of the stiles which sometimes resulted in spoiling the proportions or scale of the stiles or rails. I i Door casings are generally from threefourths to one and one-eighth inches in thickness and the faces of. the door jambs project beyond the face and edges of the casing. Therefore, under the present practice, a door cannot be of greater thickness than the casing and to get the required strength in the stile members of the door,it is necessary to use comparatively wide stock, thereby disturbing the balanced proportion of the door members. It is the obej ct of my invention to provide wall closure construction in which the frame members of the closure member] are so formed as to permit overlapping engagement with the face of the casing with the body portion of said frame member disposed within the casing, thereby forming a weather-proof and insect-proof joint between the closure member and the wall opening without disturbing the outside appearance or dimensions of the frame members of the closure member.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a wall closure member which is adapted to be made of stock of any desired thickness regardless of the thickness of the casing with which it is used, andwhich is grooved longitudinally in its outer edges so that portions of said edges may be dressed to fit within the casing while the remaining portion of the edges is not marred by I trimming but is adapted to bear against the outside face of the casing.

Additional objects of my invention are to provide a novel method of constructing wall closure members and enabling the dressing of the inner portion of the wall closure member without affecting the face portion thereof.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consistsin certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed,

oonsrrmo'rron.

1927. Serial No. 201,338.

jmgit-before the dressing operation.

Figure 5 is a similar View but'showing the frame member trimmed to fit within the wall casmg.

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional detail View of a portion of the door and the'casing- Figure 7 is a sectional View of a modified form 1n which the edge or fitting strip is attached to the edge of the closure member.

Referring by numerals to the accompany mg drawings, 11 indicates the door stiles and V 12 indicates the end rails. formed in its outer edge with a longitudinally disposed groove 12 and each endvrail is provided in its outer edge with a longitudinal groove 14;. Said grooves are preferably disposed equidistant from the, faces of the respective framemembe'rs and are of suflicient depth to permit maximum dressing of'the inner portions 15 0f stiles ll'and portions 16 of end rails 12. The overall dimensions ofthe door are greater than the opening which it is desired to close so that when a door of my improved construction is placed Each" stile is against the casing, the edgesof said door f overlap a suitable distance the opening formed by said casing. 1

To fit the door 111 position, the inner portions 15 and 16 are dressed so as to allow that portion of the door to fit accurately within the opening formed by the casing, whilethe outer portions 15 and .16 are left intact and are adapted to bear against the face of the door casing as shown in Figures 3and 6. In this manner, the outside. appearance of the door is unchanged, preserving the original proportions or scale and at the sametime a simple method is provided for trimming the door to provide perfect fit without the danger of tearing the grain or otherwise disfiguring the general appearance of the door.

a The door may. be of any desired thickness regardless of the depth of the casing as the thickness of the projecting portions 15? and 16 may be increased if so desired by properly spacing thegrooves 12 and 14. This feature is particularly advantageous in the construction ofscreen doors as the stiles of the screen doors may be made of proper strength by increasing the thickness thereof instead of increasing the width of the stiles to unsightly proportions as is the practice at the present time.

The closure member is preferably hingedly mounted in position by means of hangers 17.

In the modified form shown in Figure 7 an edge strip 18 is formed separate from the closure member and is attached thereto, thereby eliminating the necessity of groov ing the edges of the closure member. I,

My improved closure member is inexpensive to manufacture, can be readily dressed and fitted in position without requiring machine operations or special tools, and is so arranged that the fitting operations can be performed without alfecting the external appearance of the closure member. The stepped joint formed by the use of my improved construction materially increases the surface contact between the closure member and the casing therefor, thereby assuring a perfect closure joint.

lVhile I have shown and described the preferred forms of my invention, it is obvious that changes can be made in the construction of my improved closure member without departing from the spirit of my invention.

' I claim: g k

1. A wall closure member having a wooden frame provided in its outer edges with longitudinal grooves whereby the edge portion disposed on the inner side of each groove can be dressed to form a snug fit with a wall opening without disturbing theouter edgeportion which is adapted to overlap said opening.

2. A wall closure member comprising a wooden frame having longitudinally grooved edges, one portion of each edge being disposed outwardly and adapted to overlap the face of a wall opening and the other edge portion being dressed to form a snug surface contact with the walls of said opening. 3. A wall closure member having a wooden frame provided in each edge with a longitu dinal groove, the edge portion to one side of said groove being dressed to form a snug surface contact with the walls of an opening while the remaining edge portion overlaps said wall opening and forms surface contact with the face thereof. V i A. A door frame having its outer edges grooved longitudinally to allow dressing of the inner portions of each edge to form a sur face contact with the walls of a door casing, While the other edge portion is of greater dimensionsthan said door casing and overlaps the latter and forms a surface contact with the face of said door casing. v

5. As a new article of manufacture, an edge stock for closure members, said stock member having a groove arranged longitudinally in its edge whereby one of the edge portions to one side of said groove can be dressed to form a surface contact with the casing of said closure member, the other edge portion being. left intact and adapted to overlap the face of said casing.

, g In testimony whereof I hereunto my signature this 20th day of June, 1927.

BYRD o. ROCKWELL. 

